Vietnam’s E-Commerce Market: 2025 Performance and 2026 Outlook

Nguyễn Thanh Thủy
Nov 26
8 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Riding on the strong momentum of 2024, the Vietnam e-commerce market 2026 story is being written right now. Online retail is expected to reach US$26–28 billion in 2025, making Vietnam one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing digital economies. Behind the headline numbers, however, are intensifying platform battles, rising logistics costs, and a tightening regulatory environment.

For businesses and investors that understand these dynamics and plan carefully, Vietnam remains one of the region’s most compelling e-commerce opportunities.

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1. Vietnam’s e-commerce position in Southeast Asia

Even when global online retail revenue dipped in 2022, Vietnam’s e-commerce market merely slowed rather than contracted. That resilience has carried into 2024–2025.

By 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) estimated Vietnam’s e-commerce market at over US$25 billion, equivalent to roughly 10 percent of total retail and consumer-service revenue. For 2025, MoIT has raised its outlook, projecting around 25.5 percent growth and a transaction value of up to US$28 billion.

Regionally, Vietnam has now overtaken the Philippines to become the third-largest e-commerce market in Southeast Asia, trailing only Indonesia and Thailand.

Table 1. Vietnam’s e-commerce market – size and growth

Year	Estimated GMV / value	Notes
2024	> US$25 billion	~10% of total retail & consumer services
2025F	US$26–28 billion	MoIT forecast; ~25.5% growth

During the first nine months of 2025, combined sales on the four largest platforms – Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada, and Tiki – reached US$11.62 billion, up 34.4 percent year-on-year. In the first half of 2025 alone, e-commerce platforms generated about VND 222.1 trillion (around US$8.49 billion) in GMV, representing 23.1 percent growth compared with the same period in 2024.

On the regional level, Southeast Asia’s total e-commerce GMV is expected to surpass US$300 billion by 2025, driven by platform scale and the rise of content-commerce formats such as livestreaming and short-form video.

2. Platform competition: Shopee vs TikTok Shop and the rest

Headline rankings in Vietnam’s e-commerce market appear stable as of 2025, but the competitive landscape underneath is moving quickly.

According to Metric, Shopee still leads with around 56 percent market share. However, its revenue growth slowed to about 4 percent in Q3 2025. TikTok Shop, by contrast, is scaling rapidly: its GMV in the first half of 2025 surged by 148 percent year-on-year, giving it roughly 42 percent market share and significantly narrowing the gap with Shopee.

Lazada maintains a smaller but loyal user base with around 3 percent share, while Tiki continues to face headwinds, with revenue dropping about 80 percent in the same period.

Table 2. Key platforms in Vietnam’s e-commerce market, 2025

Platform	Approx. market share (2025)	Growth trend (2025)	Key notes
Shopee	~56%	~4% YoY revenue growth (Q3 2025)	Still #1 but growth is slowing
TikTok Shop	~42% (H1 2025)	GMV +148% YoY (H1 2025)	Leading in “shoppertainment” formats
Lazada	~3%	Stable	Niche but loyal users
Tiki	Very small	Revenue –80% YoY	Struggling to compete

Two forces are clearly shaping the current platform landscape:

Cost pressure from rising shipping fees and intense promotional wars is compressing margins and forcing platforms to rethink economics.
“Shoppertainment” models based on livestreaming, short-form video, and influencer-driven content – where TikTok Shop excels – are capturing consumer attention and driving conversions at scale.

For new entrants and brands, this means that cost resilience (logistics, promotions, CAC) and high-engagement content strategies are now prerequisites for competing effectively in the Vietnam e-commerce market 2026.

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3. Consumer spending and behavior: more frequent, more digital

Aggressive marketing, subsidized shipping, and heavy investment in short-form video and livestream commerce have significantly lifted Vietnam’s e-commerce spending.

Between January and September 2025, Vietnamese consumers spent about US$1.29 billion per month on the four main platforms, up from roughly US$1 billion per month in the same period of 2024. In Q3 2025 alone, total e-commerce GMV reached US$3.94 billion, a 22.3 percent year-on-year increase. Revenue for Q4 2025 is expected at about US$3.98 billion, around 15 percent higher than Q4 2024, with an estimated output of 1.069 million units (+8.14 percent).

Demographics strongly favor continued growth. In 2025:

Over 72.5 percent of online shoppers belong to Gen Z (under 27) and Millennials (28–44).
A survey of digital consumers shows that 62.8 percent make purchases on e-commerce platforms at least once a week.
Roughly half of Vietnam’s online shoppers now purchase weekly, preferring smartphone-first experiences, fast delivery, and convenience.

These digital-native consumers are shaping not only what is bought online, but also how it is discovered—through livestreams, short videos, and social feeds rather than traditional advertising.

4. Vietnam as an emerging e-commerce export hub

Beyond domestic consumption, Vietnam is increasingly positioned as a regional e-commerce export base. This reflects a combination of rapid digital adoption, strong manufacturing capabilities, and supportive government policies.

At the 2025 Amazon Global Selling conference, Amazon’s leadership highlighted Vietnam as one of the most dynamic contributors to global e-commerce exports. Vietnamese sellers and brands are growing quickly in categories such as furniture, apparel, home & kitchen goods, and personal care, all of which are expanding at rates well above the global average. The trend underscores Vietnam’s dual advantage: competitive production and rising brand sophistication.

This platform-driven growth aligns with the 2026–2030 National E-commerce Development Master Plan, which places cross-border e-commerce at the core of export strategy. Policy initiatives focus on improving the regulatory framework for cross-border trade, upgrading enterprise capabilities, and deepening collaboration with large platforms.

Taken together, these developments support Vietnam’s ambition to become a regional e-commerce export hub woven into global supply chains.

5. Digital natives and the rise of social commerce

Vietnam’s young, connected population is the engine driving the Vietnam e-commerce market 2026.

Digital natives increasingly view online channels as the default for discovery, comparison, and purchase. Social commerce – particularly on TikTok Shop – blends entertainment and shopping through livestream selling, short-form videos, and KOL/KOC recommendations. A 2025 behavioral report ranks social commerce and AI-powered personalization as the leading growth drivers for Vietnam’s digital retail.

Rather than visiting physical stores, consumers scroll through curated feeds, watch real-time product demos, and purchase with one tap. For brands and sellers, this means creative content, fast response times in chat, and the ability to manage real-time campaigns are now as important as product quality and pricing.

6. Why Vietnam’s e-commerce market could rival traditional retail

Several structural factors suggest that e-commerce could eventually rival, and in some categories overtake, traditional retail formats in Vietnam:

Accelerating penetration: Online retail’s share of total sales is rising toward double digits and continues to grow at double-digit rates annually. Unlike many Western markets where e-commerce is maturing, Vietnam’s growth curve is still steep.

Young consumers reshaping norms: With Gen Z and young millennials dominating, shopping behavior is increasingly mobile-first. These consumers are comfortable with livestreams, flash deals, and in-app payments, treating online channels as both showroom and checkout counter.

Rapid scaling of social commerce: Livestreaming and short-form video are scaling faster than physical store networks. “Shoppertainment” offers immediacy and interaction that brick-and-mortar stores struggle to match, particularly in categories like fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.

Leapfrogging retail infrastructure: Vietnam does not have a dense legacy of malls and hypermarkets. Instead of slowly shifting from offline to online, many consumers are going directly to digital channels as their primary shopping option.

Improved logistics and paymentsSame-day or next-day delivery is increasingly common in major cities. Cashless payments, e-wallets, and integrated COD systems have dramatically reduced friction in online purchasing. SMEs scaling through platformsMicro-businesses and D2C brands are using Shopee, TikTok Shop, and Lazada as their main storefronts, sidestepping the costs of physical retail. This long-tail of sellers fuels product diversity and keeps consumers engaged. Supportive policy directionGovernment programs promoting digital transformation, data infrastructure, and online consumer protection reinforce the shift toward a digitally led retail ecosystem.

All of these trends suggest that by 2026 and beyond, e-commerce will not simply complement traditional retail in Vietnam—it will be a core, and in some sectors dominant, channel.

7. Key challenges in Vietnam’s e-commerce ecosystem

Despite strong tailwinds, the Vietnam e-commerce market faces several constraints that investors and operators need to manage proactively.

Money-burning competition

Heavy discounting, free-shipping campaigns, and intensive influencer marketing have turned the market into a costly battlefield. Platforms and large sellers are spending aggressively to capture market share, pressuring margins and raising questions about long-term profitability.

Regulatory uncertainty

Vietnam’s current e-commerce framework is still largely based on Decree 52/2013/ND-CP, amended by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP. Regulators acknowledge that these rules lag behind industry reality. The Draft E-Commerce Law 2025, led by the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA), aims to address cross-border trade, platform liability, and consumer protection. While positive in the long term, this transition period brings compliance risk and uncertainty around future obligations.

Generational consumer gap

Younger consumers are enthusiastic online shoppers, but many middle-aged and older Vietnamese remain more comfortable with traditional retail. This generational gap limits the total addressable market for pure-play e-commerce and forces platforms to invest more in trust-building, education, and user experience design.

Talent constraints

The industry faces a shortage of specialized talent, particularly in data analytics, AI-driven personalization, omni-channel fulfilment, and global supply-chain management. Skills gaps can slow scaling efforts, weaken execution, and make it harder to replicate best practices from more mature markets.

Logistics bottlenecks

While delivery services have improved, Vietnam’s logistics infrastructure still has gaps in warehousing, last-mile coverage, rural distribution, and cold chain. New road-safety rules introduced in 2025 have reportedly increased long-haul and heavy-goods transport costs by up to 20 percent, as firms adapt to stricter rest requirements and higher fines. These cost pressures ultimately feed into higher selling prices or thinner margins.

Sustainability pressures

Sustainability is emerging as a strategic issue. According to the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM), online retail and food delivery consumed more than 332,000 tons of packaging materials in 2023 alone, including about 171,000 tons of plastic. As regulators and consumers focus more on waste and carbon footprints, platforms and sellers will need to adopt greener packaging, return processes, and logistics models.

Overall, success in the Vietnam e-commerce market 2026 will depend on how effectively companies address these challenges while capturing growth.

8. Outlook for Vietnam’s e-commerce market in 2026

With a young population, rising incomes, and a growing middle class, Vietnam is likely to remain one of Southeast Asia’s most attractive e-commerce markets through 2026 and beyond. Its emerging role as a regional export hub adds another layer of opportunity, especially for manufacturers and brands seeking to reach global consumers via online platforms.

However, simply “riding the wave” will not be enough. Sustainable success will require:

Clear positioning and differentiated value propositions, not just discounts.
Strong operational foundations in logistics, compliance, and data.
The right local partners who understand both regulatory trends and on-the-ground consumer behavior.

For investors and operators that meet these conditions, Vietnam offers the combination of scale, growth, and structural tailwinds that is increasingly rare in the global e-commerce landscape.

9. Key takeaways on the Vietnam e-commerce market 2026

Vietnam’s e-commerce sector is moving from high growth to high stakes. Market value is on track to reach US$28 billion in 2025, with double-digit expansion likely to continue into 2026. Social commerce, digital-native consumers, and cross-border exports are reshaping how goods are discovered, bought, and delivered.

At the same time, the industry must navigate money-burning competition, regulatory tightening, infrastructure gaps, and rising sustainability expectations. Companies that can combine content-driven engagement, cost resilience, and rigorous compliance will be best placed to capture the next phase of growth.

10. How Vinex can support your Vietnam e-commerce strategy

For businesses looking to enter or expand in the Vietnam e-commerce market 2026, having an experienced local advisor is essential. Vinex offers end-to-end support, including:

Market entry and company incorporation tailored to online and omni-channel models;
Licensing, tax, and accounting compliance for e-commerce operators and cross-border sellers;
Legal advisory on platform contracts, data protection, and evolving e-commerce regulations;
Ongoing support as you scale operations, optimise structures, and explore regional expansion.

If your company is considering tapping into Vietnam’s fast-growing online consumer base or using Vietnam as a regional e-commerce export hub, Vinex can help you design a practical, compliant, and scalable roadmap.